Google to open online tablet store: report
Google擬開設線上平板電腦商店

A Google logo in Frankfurt, Germany is seen in this file photo taken on Oct. 21, 2004.這張二○○四年十月二十一日攝於德國法蘭克福的照片，是Google的商標。

Photo: EPA照片：歐新社

Google Inc is planning to open an online store to sell tablet PCs directly to consumers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on March 29.

The online store would offer tablets made by Samsung Electronics Co and Asustek Computer Inc based on Google’s Android software, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources and which Reuters was not able to confirm.

Google briefly sold a specially-designed Android smartphone — the Nexus One — directly to consumers in 2010, but closed the store after four months saying it had not lived up to expectations.

Google now relies on retail and carrier partners to sell Android smartphones made by a variety of handset makers and Android has become the world’s No.1 smartphone operating system, ahead of iPhone-maker Apple Inc.

Google may co-brand some of the tablets sold through the store and has considered subsidizing the cost of future tablets to make them more competitive with the Kindle Fire, according to The Wall Street Journal report. It is unclear when Google plans to open the store.